Case Study: A Ten Year Old Boy's Room

I have been working on a house since last September, room by room, and today I am showing you an update of the little boy's room. He is ten. This was not as easy as you think. Ten is too young for some things, and too old for others.

The boy's bedroom "before"

I started by repainting the room in Winterwood, the same greige color used throughout the house. This is an interior room without any windows. I also changed the carpet, not only to refresh, but also because when the huge bookshelf was moved out, there was a patch of even older carpet under it, and needless to say it did not match. The carpet came from perch.

The "Nook" bed from Modern Market in New Orleans
Ceiling fan was replaced with Nelson bubble light

It was time to get rid of the bunk bed, and I chose a bed that can grow with him into adulthood, the queen size "Nook" bed from Modern Market. The little boy loves color, and his two favorites are orange and green. The ceiling fan was replaced by the Nelson bubble pendant (the large size) from Design Within Reach ion New Orleans ((504) 891-6520).

The Playroom "before"

I also worked on an adjoining room, called the playroom. It is very small, but large enough for a TV and some furniture. I replaced bean bag chairs with a pair of vintage chairs, and a sofa from Urban Outfitters.

Vintage chair from Neophobia in New Orleans

The chairs were reupholstered in orange velvet from Fabricut from perch.

A large wall hanging from Urban Outfitters was hung on the wall behind the couch, and another Nelson pendant light (the medium size) was hung above.

A pair of theses chairs were redone in a velvet from Frabricut

The Playroom "after"

View from the bedroom into the playroom "before"

View into the playroom from the bedroom "after"

Shelves from Blu Dot purchased at Modern Market were put against the wall where the bunk bed was. The boy has tons of Legos, and requested shelf space where he could store them and see them.

"Before" - We needed to get the Legos off the floor
The pine dresser was replaced with a vintage one

Blu Dot shelving from Modern Market for the Legos

When you purchase new furniture for children it is very easy to fall into the trap of the matched room. I like to do the mix I do everywhere else: Vintage, modern, antique.
I found an adorable vintage desk, dresser, and chair on Etsy from Rhan Vintage Modern HERE, and had it shipped from Los Angeles for this room.

Vintage desk, dresser and chair from Rhan Vintage Modern

The little boy was thrilled with his new desk. I have also ordered a rolling table in orange from Rosenberry.

The desk is in very good vintage condition. It just needed to be cleaned up. The little boy discovered "treasure" in the drawers! There was a vintage costume jewelry pearl necklace and vintage hankie that he gave to his mother. He also found a bottle of dried up India Ink. There was another object, something the young boy had never seen. It was a 45 record!!!!

In honor of that, I asked his mother to get him a record player for his new room. I suggested a vintage style one. She plans to build a record collection for him too. What records would you choose for him? The one he found is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".

The new record player
Also a peek at the new carpet

"Before" - This bookcase was given away...
And the vintage dresser was moved to this spot

"After" - This book shelf unit replaced it...

Check out the duck taxidermy!

I am showing you the bare bones of the room. There is more art to come, and of course the little boy will make it his own.

I added bedding from CB2, and mom added the hourglass with lime green sand. A pair of Stilt lamps rest on a pair of nightstands from Blu Dot.

I did choose several Blu Dot pieces, but I mixed the various styles they have, rather then matching them.

Bedding from Cb2 called "Ink"

Hourglass with lime green sand

I always like to leave a little gift in each room I complete, and for this young man I found a box of vintage pool balls I placed in a wire basket. He called me to thank me, and was pretty excited that a pool table might be coming too.

Modu-licious nightstand and Stilt lamp from Modern Market

I loved doing this room. There were unexpected challenges. I felt a different kind of responsibility for creating a room for a young person on his way to adulthood. I hope he will remember this room with fondness when he is grown up, and perhaps take some of this furniture with him.

My gift of vintage pool balls

Case Study: A Ten Year Old Boy's Room - Interior Design: Valorie Hart

The French Woman's Bedroom In New Orleans

Flowers and photo by Valorie Hart

For many many years I have loved a book called "The French Woman's Bedroom" HERE

The moment I saw the guest room in the home I have been working on HERE, my thought bubble was "The French Woman's Bedroom". As with the other rooms in the house, I wanted to use what the owner had, and freshen it up with a few changes.

The guest room I call The French Woman's Bedroom
This is the reveal of the finished room, the "after"

The room already had some lovely French pieces, but like the rest of the rooms I updated, it was a little lackluster. I managed to bring in quite a few of the antiques that were in the living room, saving them from storage or auction.

The "before" of the living room -
I used quite a few things from here for the bedroom

The room once had a four poster bed, and the client did not want to revisit that piece of furniture. Here was a chance to modernize a bit with a headboard.

This is an interim photo - art work and lamps re-purposed
No headboard or new bedding yet

I also brought the drapes from the living room to guest room, but had them updated by removing the elaborate brush fringe, and repairing the sun damage on the edges. The drapes that hung in the guest room were off the rack, and a faux silk polyester, and just a little too gold fo the room.

The new headboard arrives from Urban Outfitters!
The old drapes are down and on the bed

The living room drapes were remodeled for this room
The table and lamp were also in the living room
The embroidered silk botanicals were in storage

A small farm table that the client already had was brought in and used as a vanity, and a lovely arm chair covered in a fabulous discontinued Bergamo silk cut velvet damask became the vanity chair.

A farm table and a chair from the living room
I replaced a huge gold mirror with the pretty framed prints

There were two pairs of carved wood antique candlestick lamps that were wobbly, so I had them repaired, and purchased some fresh new modern shades for them. One pair ended on the vanity table, and the other pair became nightstand lamps.

A Venetian dressing table mirror
Antique gilt candlestick lamps got new modern shades

I also moved art work around and added a Venetian dressing table mirror. I brought the collection of early 19th century landscape paintings that hung in the living room, into the French Woman's Bedroom, because like all woman, she loves to be surrounded by art and flowers.

Flowers on the vanity table

Along with the arrangement of paintings over the bed, I added a sunburst mirror. I had ordered a collection of mirrors, but when I found out they were back ordered for months, I cancelled the order. The client and I were just about to sit down at the computer and look for a replacement when she remembered that she had a modern sunburst mirror that she had taken down in another room, and it was being "stored" under the bed in the guest room! She thought she had given it away, and I was so happy that she had not! It was perfect!

Landscape paintings and sunburst mirror arranged around headboard
Les Indiennes bedding

I had many choices for new bedding, and all the hotel style stuff, and monogram linens, and Horchow style bedding was just not thrilling us. And overly modern textiles would not work. And the client does not like quilted textiles. And a Suzani wasn't it either. I suggested simple French style bedding, and suggested Les Indiennes.

Antique candlestick lamp with new modern shade

This bedroom is one of three I have revamped, and it is the most different. Because it is a stand alone room in the floor plan of the house, it is not jarring. Everyone loves to stay in this room. It feels so luxe and romantic.

All photos by Valorie Hart
The photographer on the shoot loved my snap shots!
It's my styling habit since the days of Polaroids!

The photos I took are my snap shots from a recent photo shoot. I styled this room (and many others) and did the flowers for the shoot. It is such a pleasure to go back to floral design now and then. The bouquets in this room are pretty little gems.

Flowers in a petite Majolica pitcher

Flowers on the nightstand

This project is ongoing. I just finished the little boy's bedroom, as well as the college age son's bedroom. This Summer I hope to work on the kitchen and the master bedroom. The family should be good for another ten years in this house, and God willing when they need another revamp I will still be working!

Another time I will show you the kids' rooms...

The French Woman's Bedroom is ready for guests!
Interior decoration by Valorie Hart

Case Study: A New Orleans Traditional Home Is Updated

The living room the day I came to have a look
Things that I could not change: recently painted walls, and floor color
Everything else could go

A customer walked into perch., the home furnishings store I work in (in New Orleans), and asks for me. She's heard I revitalize rooms with a certain New York, rock and roll glam edge. She asks me to pay a house call, telling me she needs to update her traditional French inspired look she did ten years ago. She told me we could throw everything out and start over.

While the rooms were a little lackluster and dated, there was still alot of good stuff there, and I tell her we are not throwing anything out. We will reupholster and move things around to other parts of the house, and add a some things from perch.

I am doing the 95% of the house, and today I am starting with showing you the front living room. It is a room used mainly for entertaining. There is a family room, a room the husband loves as -is, and in actuality it is very nice, and I decide to keep him happy and leave well enough alone.

The living room today
I gave it my signature New York, rock and roll glam

The first thing I did was edit the contents and rearrange the furniture. Already the client said she could breathe. The pieces I kept were the mirror, the antique settee, the couch, and a little stool. The arm chair is covered in a gorgeous discontinued Bergamo fabric and got moved to a guest room I call "the French woman's bedroom." In fact most of the furnishings moved to this room, including the investment drapes. I just removed the brush fringe to update them a little. The lamp with the half slip left too, but for the moment it was the only light source (other than the windows) in the room.

The furniture was rearranged and edited
The fabulous arm chair covered in Bergamo went upstairs
Note the color of the floor - it inspired the new drapery color
The sad lamp with the half slip was the only light in here
We moved the crystal chandelier from the dining room here
It is original to the house
The dining room is getting a Mouille chandelier

We moved quickly. The project started in the third week of September and the bulk of it was done by December 15th. I have a gift for instantly envisioning a room completely done, and make confident decisions quickly. The client was a dream, trusting me instantly, and able to move quickly as well. Three rooms were done, and a large bar area, and one son's bedroom got an instant update for his homecoming from college. I am now working on a another son's room and the guest bedroom, and some small things in the lady's office.

Furniture from perch. came in right away, and everyone there helped push the project as fast as we wanted to go.

As I said, the lady of the house has two children one aged 8 and one in college, just to give you her age range. She is stylish and very savvy. She loves mid-century modern, color, and metallic, and asked to use chrome somewhere, which I did in other rooms. I took the metallic cue and ran with. We purchased the zinc side tables from Restoration Hardware - they are actually garden pedestals. I placed a pair of gilded French antique lamps here that were moved from the dining room sideboard. I updated them by having the center pole raised and adding a modern shade.

Zinc "side table" is a garden pedestal

Two side chairs from perch.
I reupholstered the seats in vibrant turquoise, a color the client loves
The photograph is from perch. - "Jane Doe" by Lisa Conrad
I decided to keep the sea grass rug

I removed the over stuffed down cushion from the settee
It was reupholstered in white metallic ultra suede -
All fabrics I used come from perch.
Note when we do custom work like this
We "retire" the fabric in New Orleans - we cut it out of the sample book
New Orleans is a small city
perch. wants its customers to truly have one-of-a-kind work

A side table with a built-in lamp was added from Hazelnut
We loved it's mid century vibe
Check out the apricot silk swatch of the drapery fabric
No matter what, the girls in New Orleans want silk drapes from perch.


A metal sculpture was added from perch.
I thought about a sconce, but the scale had to be large
The oversize ottoman is also from perch.
I called Nicole Cohen to make us a large Lucite tray HERE
And the chandelier is in it's new home

A custom painting done by Jack Mayberry from perch.
The colors are inspired by the decor

Painting by Jack Mayberry

The Lucite tray designed by Nicole Cohen arrives!
Silver chrome studs give it rock star edge
A custom green silk pillow from perch. replaced the furry beasts


Detail of custom pillow
I chose this luscious fabric from perch.
The perch. fabric room has a half a million samples

The stairs are the first thing you see when you come in the front door
They had ten year old sea grass on them
I replaced that with an antelope pattern carpet runner
The window had a foofy balloon shade that had to go
I replaced it with an apricot silk Roman shade
Jack's painting hangs next to this window
There is no room for an entry table
The stairs, the shade, and the painting become an important focal point

Elegant antelope print carpet stair runner from perch.

Key elements include:
An infusion of color
Visual Vamp glam
Apricot silk drapes from perch.
Luxe fabrics and furnishings from perch.
(check out the little stool recovered in leopard raffia)
A mix of old and new
Interesting art work
Mixed metals

If you like, I'll show you another room from this house next week.

I am so blessed to have a stylish client seek me out with a project like this, and colleagues, Caroline Robert and Jack Mayberry at perch. I have never been happier!

Call us at perch.
There are three of us there doing the design chores, and you are bound to click with one of us!
504 899 2122

Please take a look at Susan's weekly feature Metamorphosis Monday HERE

Do You Have A Signature Design Element?

As we all look at magazines, design books, and on blogs, certain designers stand out. You may love that designer, or you may loathe that designer. But even before you read one caption you recognize their work.

Designers get hooked on using some of their favorite things, and these things become sort of a signature design element. Do you find yourself buying and using the same tried and true things you love? What are they?

Suzanne Kasler high end bedroom
Featured in her book HERE

Suzanne Kasler is the hot Atlanta designer every girl wants to be, or have decorate her home. She's hotter than Candice Olson was on Rate My Space (the original web site not the HGTV show). I've heard it said that SK charges $100K per project.

Wall brackets from the SK collection for Ballard
Buy a dozen and you can have the Kasler look like her high end bedroom

I will never know what she charges, because I will never hire her. But like many of you I appreciate her work, and recognize the design elements she favors.

Kasler likes to use repetition as a signature design element
These antlers are part of her affordable collection for Ballard

It's no secret to design bloggers and savvy shoppers that SK designed a low price line for Ballard Designs. I am so seduced when I get those Ballard catalogs. The styling is superb. It's like getting a mini design book in the mail, complete with new sections dedicated to how to put a room together, and a supporting web site that is pretty good.

Skirted SK linen table cloth for Ballard - use it in any room

We don't have a Ballard outlet here in New Orleans, but when I visited Atlanta, Renae Moore took me to the Ballard's Backroom, where I got to see and touch the merchandise.

Pale color SK gourd lamp for Ballard
Looks just like the ones in her high end bedroom

I was disappointed, because by and large the stuff is really cheap looking and feeling. Many of you have told me this, but I just didn't want to believe it. Yet if you are careful, you can pick and choose and maybe use a piece or two to mix in with the high and low.


The Kasler look is expensive and requires a pale color palette, repetition of objects, French antiques mixed with modern pieces, and graphic fabrics mixed in with silk and linen. Sounds pretty standard and easy right? Something that Ballard could knock off and any home decorator could achieve. Well yes and no. The elements may be familiar to us all, but how SK puts it all together is the magic, and why she is a major design star.

Suzanne Kasler high end dining room
Note the colors palette,
The silk drapes, the chandelier, the skirted table
Pay attention to the French style seating

Still with her book in hand, a ton of shelter magazines that have featured her, myriad blog posts bookmarked, and the Ballard catalog in hand, you could create the look.

SK designed this Swedish/French style chandelier for Ballard

I think a bedroom or a dining room would be good places to try some SK signature elements.

SK chandelier for Ballard Designs

Adding a wall of brackets or antlers, or a sunburst mirror (or a collection of sunburst mirrors) will propel you on your way. Choose any pale neutral wall color to place your Ballard treasures on.

Waldorf Chandelier - $579. from Ballard
Not cheap, but far cheaper than the antique Kasler
would use for thousands of dollars
This one looks very much like the one in her high end dining room

Add a signature chandelier. Kasler favors romantic French style chandeliers, and Ballard has a huge well priced selection (some designed by Kasler) that would fit the bill. The Ballard lighting fixtures seem to work okay in the high low mix.

Nine arm Claire chandelier from Ballard - only $399.
Very grand and very romantic - it would look great in an SK inspired room

Suzanne loves sunburst mirrors. She elevated them from mid century hipster cool, to an elegant design accessory. She brought back the sunburst design to the touchstone of the elegant French antique.

Suzanne Kasler loves the sunburst mirror

Many of us are "over" the sunburst mirror. It did get played up and perhaps out, and used by every designer on television or in Domino. I still love it, because it is a classic. People love it and gravitate towards it precisely because it is a well designed beautiful object.

Suzanne Kasler high end bathroom with a sunburst mirror

Ballard has a great selection of Kasler designed sunburst mirrors, and I want to believe that this would be okay in the high low mix.

Kasler designed this sunburst mirror for Ballard
Only $219! And the rays extend to an impressive 44 inches

Suzanne Kasler high end living room with sunburst mirror collection
These are French antiques
But she designed a collection for Ballard

So what did you think of the latest Ballard catalog? I'm sure you have all gotten your latest copy in the mail by now. And what are you ordering?

The Suzanne Kasler collection for Ballard HERE

I picked out some Kasler and non Kasler items that I like, though I know even in the photos that some of them will be just too cheap looking.

Wine Harvest bucket - looks too cheap to me
We sell a real one at perch. for $800. that is gorgeous


This antique style clock looks like a mini Mora clock
Is it good or is the small scale goofy?

Another diminutive luxury look
This Kasler designed ice bucket style vase

Architectural Models
These look like they would be okay for the high low mix

Kasler wooden folding table
Too expensive for something so flea market looking

Paris Places "subway" style sign - are they too late with this one?

Non Kasler French sign - I know it's corny, but I still love it

French plaque at Ballard

Even more corny
Kitchen mats with with a black board menu look
And I am sorry to say I kind of like them

So, tell us if you have purchased anything from Ballard lately, especially from the Suzane Kasler Collection.

Suzanne Kasler living room for Ballard Designs

And check Holly at Things That Inspire who wrote a good post on this same subject awhile back.